Such has been the determination and dedication of these women that society itself has welcomed this development and extended support to them. Full-fledged priests, these women began to be invited to perform rites at religious ceremonies and marriages. Even at cremations, they are no longer considered an oddity and now they are gradually matching their male counterparts in sheer numbers.

Says the gutsy Dharmadhikari, "The Shankaracharyas (Hindu religious heads) may not have accorded recognition to us, but society has. Women priests are perceived as sincere and devoted."

An observation that is borne out by Makarand Nagarkar, who prefers women priests to their male counterparts while conducting religious ceremonies in his home. "Our experience has been that women priests are more sincere and committed. Unlike their male colleagues who are in a hurry to finish the puja, so that they can rush for another assignment, women priests go about their work in a less hurried manner."

This is an opinion that is shared by many Puneites. Like Suniti Karkhanis, for instance, who insisted on having Dharmadhikari perform a ceremony at her new flat, despite stiff resistance from her family members. By the time Dharmadhikari finished the puja, all the family members were a converted lot.

The Pune-based Shankar Sewa Samiti Began special classes as far back as 1976 to train women in priestly work and increase their fluency in Sanskrit. In the beginning there were only 16 women trainees, but with the positive response from society and the growing demand for women priests, the number of women trainees has been steadily increasing.

Another organisation that has been training women priests across the state is Pune’s Dnyanaprabhodhini Centre. Set up in the early 1990s, the centre has trained close to 200 women in Hindu rites and rituals. Not all of them are practicing priests though and many of them prefer to confine their invocations to the four walls of their homes. But those who have ventured out have not only managed to find acceptability, they have also won widespread acclaim.

Manjusha Mungi, a 52-year-old schoolteacher from Pune, is just one of the several women in the city who have entered this men-only field. She was performing a mass thread ceremony at her school when some curious onlookers invited her to perform a puja at their house. That marked the beginning of more assignments.

However, she soon realised that many people, odiously uncomfortable with the idea of a woman performing puja, still preferred a male priest when it came to more ‘serious’ matters like marriages and death anniversaries. For the first 10 years she was invited only for thread ceremonies, but she was determined to prove her mettle and started studying religious scriptures even as she juggled between her teaching job and the odd thread-ceremony assignment. mungi’s perseverance paid and today she is a much sought-after priest.

And now those who have made a mark, like Dharmadhikari, are taking steps to involve more women in this profession. Dharmadhikari not only conducts ceremonies but also trains other women at her alma mater, Udyan Karyalaya. She spends all her earnings from teaching and priesthood either in sponsoring the education of needy children or donating the money towards charitable causes.

Women priests are not restricted to Pune alone. In Jalgaon District, Sheela Kulkarni is among the first few women who are heralding this quiet revolution. Kulkarni underwent the week-long training programme conducted by Dnyanaprabodhini in Pune and has started performing puja. Though at the moment, she is the officiating priest only at her own family functions, she hopes that she will soon be doing the same at others’ homes as well.

Not only this, she intends pursuing a year-long intensive course that Dnyanaprabodhini offers in Pune. "I am very interested in studying the scriptures and feel I would be able to do my priestly duties better if I do this course," she says.

Perhaps what contributes to these women’s sincerity is that priesthood did not come to these women as an inheritance, but was the result of genuine interest and a lot of hard work. Pramila Pathak, for instance, took up priesthood in all earnest after she retired from her nursing job in 1987. Today she is practicing it with a missionary zeal, with little regard for money.

"If the people are happy, we are at peace. We do not seek monetary gains," asserts 68-year-old Pathak. Her colleagues could not agree more.